Sunday, 26 November 2006

Fortress of Laupen 1339

This is the Fortress of Laupen in 1339 I built for a DBA-Scenario . It's for 25mm minis and made of styropor, sandpaper, balsa, sand mixed with glue and paint.
But, as one can easly see from the map (below) the model isn't quite accurate. I've built that BUA not caring about authenticity. I was inspired by the way Diebold Schilling drew his schematic castles in the "Spiezer Chronik" (above), written in the late 15th century. I think the most important thing about a BUA are the good looks and it has to be convenient and sturdy enough for tabletop wargames.

Below is a view of the town of Laupen as it appeared in 1809. The town has kept its medieval character. The fortress has drastically changed since the end of the middle ages. And this is actually how it still looks today (if you can ignore the urban sprawl around it!) The battlefield is beyond the pinewoods on the hill (The Bramberg) behind the fortress (right).